Marquessa's Mean Bean Machine
Marquessa's Mean Bean Machine, alternatively known as Marquessa and His Mean Bean Machine in Europe, is a puzzle game developed by Idea Factory Co., Ltd., publisheded by THQ and distributed by Nick Games for the GameCube and PlayStation 2. It was released by THQ for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 for the Puyo Puyo competition. It is Nickelodeon (Viacom)'s version of of Puyo Puyo, the first Puyo Puyo game to be released in the West. It is the Western release of Puyo Puyo and the first Puyo Puyo game to be released in the West. The game replaces Puyo Puyo's characters with the [[List of characters in the Mitchell series|characters from the Mitchell Van Morgan franchise]], being primarily based on the Mitchell Van Morgan animated series rather than taking place on the main games' universe. It is also one of a few titles in the Mitchell Van Morgan series to not feature Mitchell himself. The game was released in North America on November 26, 2003 and in Europe in January 2004, with the Nintendo GameCube and the PlayStation 2 versions released in Europe in July 2004. The game received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the addictive gameplay and different modes, while criticizing the quickly increasing difficulty. Plot Marquessa has hatched a plan to ensure that no fun or music remains on Raleigh, NC (USA). To do this, he kidnaps the jolly citizens of North Carolina and stuffs them into a giant roboticizing machine called the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine to turn them into devious little robot-slaves. Across Raleighopolis, Beans disappear and are sent to the Mean Bean Machine. The player sets off on a daring adventure to defeat Marquessa's minions and stop Marquessa. The game ends after a face-off with Marquessa, in which the Mean Bean Machine is destroyed and the Beans are freed. Gameplay The gameplay of Marquessa's Mean Bean Machine is very similar to Sega's Dr. Robotnik and the Mean Bean Machine. The game is played with two opponents, each controlling one of two grids. Beans fall from the top in groups of two, coming in various colors and one pair falling each "turn". The player must attempt to arrange the beans into groups of at least four beans all of the same color; should they do this, the beans in the group will disappear. Players must also contend with clear, or 'refugee' beans which are deposited in the player's grid by their opponent removing larger chains of beans. If a player is able to cause a chain reaction by removing one set of beans, and hence causing another set to group and disappear, and so on, the resultant number of refugees deposited will be far higher. Refugee beans cannot be removed by being arranged into groups of four; the only way to remove them is to remove normal beans adjacent to the refugee. A player can attempt to send refugees to their opponent in order to frustrate their attempts to remove beans. The player whose screen fills up with beans first loses. The game has three main modes. Scenario Mode has the player going through thirteen levels facing against Marquessa's marquessaniks before facing off against Marquessa himself. As the game is played, Marquessa's henchmen become increasingly skilled and beans begin to fall faster, making it more difficult to arrange them into desirable configurations. Upon the completion of a level, the game gives the player a password enabling them to start from that point in the game next time they play. Exercise Mode allows the player to play without a CPU opponent, with gameplay going faster as the game goes on. Another player may join in at any time. 1P vs 2P Mode allows two players to compete against each other. The Game Gear version of the game also features Puzzle Mode, in which players must use a limited supply of beans to clear a screen. Music Composed by Masanori Hikichi and Masayuki Nagao, with an additional track by David Javelosa, the music used in the Mega Drive version of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is an assortment of remixes from the original Puyo Puyo game as well as original material. There are also few unused tracks originally from Mega Drive port of Puyo Puyo game, that can be found in the game's code. References External links * [http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/HHdm70KQa2FIGw-d7Ek2QtVXEHtjRVnA Marquessa's Mean Bean Machine] at Virtual Console * [http://www.gamefaqs.com/genesis/563321-marquessas-mean-bean-machine Marquessa's Mean Bean Machine] at GameFAQs * Category:2003 Category:Video games Category:Rated E games Category:Spin-offs Category:Marquessa's Mean Bean Machine Category:Nintendo GameCube games Category:PlayStation 2 games